India is such a vast nation, there are about 121 languages ​​spoken here with more than 19,500 dialects, which makes India a nation with a vast cultural heritage. The culture of education in the Indian subcontinent has a history of thousands of years, and due to the distinct geography and culture of the southern part and the northern part of India, it has given prominence to a diversity of teaching methods with the passage of time. They methods formalised as various boards of education.
In this article we will do our best to educate you about all types of education boards before choosing one for your child. Keep in mind that the choices you make today will have a life-long impact on your children’s overall development.
Through the 42nd amendment in 1976 of the Indian Constitution, education was transferred from the state list to the concurrent list, which enabled the central government to legislate in the matters of education. Earlier on it was wholly the prerogative of state government to decide the education policy of their respective states.
Most popular Education boards in India.
- Central board of secondary education
- Indian Certificate of Secondary Education
- State Board of Education
Central board of secondary education
CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) tops the list in terms of number of students and schools affiliated to it. It is considered to be one of the foremost and most widely accepted education boards in India.
CBSE was established in 1929 and currently it comes under the newly formed Ministry of Education.
The board is followed by many private and public schools across the country. Centrally administered Kendriya Vidyalaya are also affiliated to CBSE. The board conducts the examination for both private and regular students. Candidates who wish to pursue distance learning can register for admission and apply for assessment. After class 10, CBSE offers its students a range of subjects in the areas of Science, Commerce and Humanities. After graduating in class 12th, students can apply for higher education in many universities.
According to the official website of CBSE, there are 28 government and private affiliated schools abroad. The main reason for their establishment is to serve the Indian community abroad and the children or relatives of Indian diplomats residing in those countries.
Benefits and Features of CBSE Board
- The board is directly administered by the central government, which also conducts several examinations for colleges such as the NEET exam.
- There is an extensive network of schools across India including villages and small towns. This makes easier to resume schooling after transfer of parents of such students.
- The grading system and Continuous Comprehensive Assessment (CCE) makes it a little easier for the students as there is no stiff competition for marks. Also grades for extra-curricular activities are counted in the assessment.
- The syllabus in CBSE is relatively easy as it covers fewer subjects. Subjects such as physics, biology and chemistry come under the umbrella of science, while geography, history and civics come under the domain of social science. The curriculum is application oriented as they follow a focused curriculum.
Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE)
ICSE or Indian Certificate for Secondary Education. It is one of the practical education boards in India that lays more emphasis on the importance of English education than other boards. One of the objectives of the council was to make familiar provisions of education for Anglo-Indians and to give them an education comparable in quality to that of the British schools.
Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations is a private school board in India. The objective of this board is to conduct basic education analysis through English medium in compliance with the recommendations of the New Education Policy 1986 (India).
Applicants appearing for the exam must study six subjects with one to three papers per subject. It consists of eight to eleven papers in total, which are mostly based on the subjects.
ICSE tests select the most appropriate five out of six subjects. However, English markings are mandatory and are widely carried out.
According to a report appeared in India Today, CBSE syllabus is more on theoretical concepts and ICSE focuses on practical knowledge. However, we did not find any evidence to substantiate this argument, especially after the New Education Policy of 2020.
Benefits and Features of ICSE Board
- The ICSE board places greater emphasis on English as the medium of instruction and communication in the schools which helps the students to become comfortable in this global language of business.
- Also the board encourages extracurricular activities which helps in overall development of your children.
- Unlike CBSE and other state boards, ICSE is considered an expensive medium of education. The fees and cost of books and other school supplies are high. If this is a disadvantage, you may consider other boards.
State BoardÂ
State boards are run by state governments, and each state has its own board of education. As we told you earlier, education is part of the concurrent list which enables the state government to decide the policies of its schools. Government Inter Colleges popularly known as G.I.C’s are administered by the State Government.
Most of the state boards have the option of local language as the medium of instruction, they lay more emphasis on integrating the culture of the respective state with their education. Since run by the state government, fees in such schools are highly subsidised and may be waived off completely on certain qualifications.
The curriculum also changes from one state to another with the change of state. Those parents whose job requires frequent transfer may want to skip this board.
Some state boards have recently directed all schools to exclusively implement NCERT books, which are essential for students to study for all India exams that are conducted by the central government.
State Board Benefits and Features
- These boards are less expensive than the other boards we’ve talked about.
- The density of such schools is much higher than other boards, usually there is one school for each village.
- Apart from being less expensive, state government education schemes are mostly implemented in these schools. Popular scheme like laptop, tablet, cycle scheme or sports scholarship scheme is provided to the students of state boards.
- Mid day meal is also provided in the state run government schools.
- Those students aiming for state public service commission jobs may want to prefer this board over others.
- Delhi and other union territories and states like Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim follow the CBSE syllabus in their state-run schools.
All the above boards are among the most popular boards in the country, some boards like National Institute of Open Schooling are not included in this list and some other less popular boards do not rank in this list.
Through this article the editor team of Indian Spectator does not try to better or undermine any education board. In case of objection, please write to the editorial board of the Indian spectator.
